Southboro author looks at the down side of celebrity

Susan Lubner was making breakfast when she heard yelling and screaming coming from the TV. Puzzled, she took a look at what her two daughters were watching and caught a glimpse of a reality show.

Lubner had been familiar with “American Idol” and the ubiquitous cooking shows. But tantrums and family brawls deliberately captured on camera for general entertainment?

“I was shocked at what people were willing to do and allow millions of viewers to watch,” Lubner said the other day by telephone from her home in Southboro.

The family moment got Lubner, a writer, thinking about the whole business of fame and its allure.

She asked herself, “Is fame that exciting to people that they are willing to do anything to achieve it?” She came to the conclusion that those who seek the spotlight could be sacrificing much of themselves and their most important relationships for what is often a fleeting moment in the sun.

Lubner wondered what lengths someone might go to in order to achieve celebrity, and she decided to write a book about it. In her debut novel, “The Upside of Ordinary” (Holiday House, 136 pp.), she tackles the subject for young people — readers between the ages of 8 and 13. Her book, published earlier this fall, is an often funny and sometimes touching tale of 11-year-old Jermaine, who believes that the fancy clothes, the cars and the attention that come with celebrity will make her feel, as Lubner expresses it, “important and shiny.”

Jermaine, who lives in Maine, decides to pursue fame by videotaping members of her family as they go about their daily lives. Her intention is to create a reality TV show. The drawback is that her relatives' lives are pretty ordinary, so the young girl sets up a series of situations to add drama. She terrifies her mother by letting loose a spider, a classroom pet she has agreed to care for. Her best friend ends up with a frightful haircut, after thinking that she is going to have her hair braided.

In the end, a disastrous episode involving her mother's pickle-making business and a heartfelt talk with an eccentric uncle bring clarity to what Jermaine really values.

When she started the novel, Lubner already was a veteran author of picture books. The latest, published in 2008, is “A Horse's Tale: A Colonial Williamsburg Adventure.” She is also the co-author of “Noises at Night,” which was named a 2006 Today Show Best Pick for Young Children.

Over the years, Lubner has had several agents and worked on projects with a couple of different editors. One chapter book never got published. Yet she remained undeterred. She worked on the manuscript of “The Upside of Ordinary” off and on for several years. When she finished it, she sent it cold to Holiday House. An editor loved it and bought it immediately.

Lubner set the story in the Bangor area of Maine because she was born and raised there. The ambitious and spunky Jermaine drove the plot; other characters have similarities to people in Lubner's life but are largely a creation of her imagination.

Jermaine's mother's business — one of several quirky aspects of the story — was the result of a chat with a woman who was selling her own pickles at an event where Lubner was promoting one of her picture books.

“I wanted the mother to be a character who had something special,” Lubner said. She filed away the conversation with the interesting businesswoman. “I loved hearing about what she was doing,” Lubner said. “I thought it would be great to have a mother who was a pickle maker.”

The critics have praised Lubner's novel. Kirkus Reviews wrote: “Jermaine neatly captures a living-in-the-moment, no-holds-barred attitude. This debut novel offers an amusing lesson on the downside of reality television …”

Lubner said she is always writing, either focusing on a magazine article or a book. She presents her work at libraries and schools, sometimes offering workshops for youthful aspirants.

“People ask how I keep going. I tell them it's because I love it,” Lubner said. “If you are writing because you're trying to get published, it's not worth it. You have to love what you do.”

Lubner wanted to make one thing clear: She has nothing against reality TV. She even watches a little of it while folding laundry.

Nevertheless, she believes her story about Jermaine raises an important question: What is ordinary?

“The plot at the heart of the story is really about discovering what's special about the ordinary, everyday things in life — family dinner, playing a game together,” Lubner said. “Those things are overlooked because they're not very glamorous. What I want people to take away is discovering what's special about your own everyday life. There are some great things about being part of a regular family.”

For more information about Susan Lubner and her work, visit www.susanlubner.com.